That chipmunk looks pretty happy with his situation. A nice comfy nest, a pet human to provide him/her with all of the creature comforts and no predators to worry about. All Chip needs is a Dale to keep him company.

Same question I kept asking. Cute as a button but this beautiful animal should be among its own in the wild, unless of course there is a good reason it is in a cage. No animal should be in a cage, this is their planet also.

…except if they’re too injured to survive in the wild, except if they’re needed for captive breeding to save their species going extinct because of habitat loss, except if they are biologically significant and therefore important to show our children and its damned unlikely our children are going to go the the remote location they live in, etc. etc. etc.

The chipmunk seemed a little uncoordinated when it got down on the floor. Possibly it is being kept because it has head trauma or some other problem that would prevent it from being able to live in the wild as it should.

Yeah, any Mary Sunshine who baby-talked me in the morning would get what he deserved, but then I’m not nearly that cute so nobody would.

@disagreeablesort you know those movies where the big, fat jailer with the huge keyring falls asleep on his shift? that’s me right now. so i’m gonna go ahead and let this comment go through. i’m sure everything will be just fine when i wake up.

I noticed that too. Either way, the ‘munk looks like he/she has a better life than the ones who live in my yard during the summer…the ones who frantically forage for food to last the long cold winter, avoid hawks in the trees, and occasionally get eaten by the neighbor’s cat. I don’t know what people are complaining about…I’d venture to guess that a majority of them keep some kind of pet. A house is just a really big cage, after all….

I’m not even annoyed by the baby-talking. This person obviously ***loves*** his chipmunk very much!

I agree with Rhea and Michelle. It appears the little “Grinny” (as some folks in Pennsylvania call them) seemed to have a problem with balance. There are at least 50 of them that visit our bird feeders every day and sure don’t stagger about.

Grinnies become brave and can be hand fed if one has the patience to do so.

I never seem to get my rats on video doing this type of thing, they just stare at me or dive straight for the camera.
One time I heard this sweet man voice coaxing me to wake with the reward of a fresh cup of coffee…so I, still half asleep and with my eyes still closed, rolled over and proceeded to (accidently) punch the coffee cup out of my boyfriends hands, onto the bed and all over me. I got my fresh coffee alright!! He no longer leans over me in bed with hot coffee, and I still get to tell that story with a smile.

The hammock bed is brilliant and the full yawn at 11 second is amazing! But now that I have see the inside of a chipmunk’s mouth I still can’t believe they can cram so many nuts into those little cheeks. And yes, this is a well-cared-for little munk who obviously needs the extra TLC.

The little ‘munk is sweet, all right … but the gentle, adorable man’s voice (I mean, the voice is adorable, and probably the man is also!) is what really made this post for me. I want to be his friend and let him wake me up like that in the mornings! (Who knew there were so many grumpies here? OK, well, I did … but why rag on someone who is obviously so kind to animals?)

I don’t see anything wrong with keeping a chipmunk as a pet. As someone has already mentioned, but I think it bears repeating and to be expounded upon, we have pet mice, rats, chinchillas, canines, felines, hamsters, gerbils, parrots, fish… Isn’t EVERY animal a ‘wild’ one? Really?

Much better to live life in cozy toastyness in the winter, cool abode in the summer, not having to worry where your next acorn is coming from, having to drink out of muddy puddles, ever watchful for raptors (the flying kind, not the Jurrasic Park ones, lol), dodging cars, diggin’ at fleas and all manner of vermin (ever see a cutarebra-laden squirrel? Ever have to pick one of ’em out?), running from dogs, cats…

The lifespan of a street squirrel? Anywhere from 2-6 years. Lifespan for a captive one? 8-12 years. I imagine a chipmunk is not much different.

I see nothing wrong with keeping ‘wild’ animals as pets as long as they are treated with the same care, respect, and love that we give our dog and cat friends. This chip sure seems like he has that, and more!

As far as dude’s method of waking the chipmunk, I think that if it had been a woman, there would be far less people nuffing. For some reason, it’s OK for a woman to talk sweetly to an animal, but it’s not for a man? That’s a shame, too. Nothing like teaching our men to be ‘real men’. ‘Don’t show compassion, don’t show emotion, don’t be affectionate!’

It’s no wonder the ratio of men to women who are in prison is what it is. It’s no wonder that we have the need for secret safe houses for women and children, but not for men. We raise our sons to be stern and to never cry. To play with soldiers, guns, and POV shooter games. Meanwhile, we raise our daughters to nurture babydolls and stuffed animals. We buy them kitchens and princess outfits. We allow them to cry and show emotion.

FWIW, the Editorz know the diffrunce, ‘cuz there should be a diffrunt email connected with that person’s screenname. But it would help the community if that person chose to add another initial or some way to distinguish. Maybe that
Gigi wasn’t already aware that she is Not That Gigi but the Other Gigi???

I had never objected to a posting on CO before so I did learn not to be an extreme nuffer or suffer the consequences. I come here to brighten my day so give me all the proshe munks you can dish up but puhlease no more dancing dogs – or at least warn me in advance so I can skip for that day. = : )

My big dog gives me this look that’s a mix of indulgent, adoring, and if I’m not petting him, when are you going to do something /I/ want? I usually only get “the look” if I’m running around the house like a crazy person when my parents are gone (which happens frequently.)

The little one just eats up any attention she’s given, and goes in search of a toy.

I have to say, I respectfully disagree with you two. While this video is very sweet, and I have no reason to believe this chipmunk is having anything but a happy life, I am in general very wary as regards “wild” animals as pets. I see the problem being that people want pets that are more and more exotic and unusual, this leading to many sad things – for example, there simply isn’t enough knowledge available on the proper care of many species (non-domesticated species can be much more tricky to take care of than those that have been bred for several generations as pets), not to mention the serious threat pet trade poses on many endangered animals.

As for the wrongness in the way girls and boys are often raised – girls allowed to show emotion, boys being told to suck it up and “be a man”, I couldn’t agree more. I wish more people would just raise their children as people, not as Men and Women.

Very well put Mie! I wish everyone could have dialogues this mature in other areas of life like,politics and religion.

I certainly see your point too. Where do we draw the line? Tigers, aligators, endangered or threatened species?

I recall very vividly during the 90’s when it seemed that iguanas were the ‘latest cool thing’ to own. I can’t tell you how many we had come into our clinic all mushy-jawed with metabolic bone disease. Owners would tell us they had a 60 watt incandescent bulb in the cage but not any full spectrum lighting or heating. And what a limited diet they’d provide! Such a shame.

I guess with the stipulation that people who are truly educated about the species they choose to love (and not ‘educated’ by an apathetic, minimum-waged-teenage-part-time pet shop employee) would be the only ones (lol, in a perfect world) to GET to keep such pets as chipmunks and other ‘not dangerous to the general public if they get loose’ pets.

Also, I think it should also be, maybe, a permit type thing. We have to have driver’s licenses, degrees to practice medicine, regulations for day care centers… why not some sort of permit to keep these pets, (of any kind for that matter)? Seems kinda harsh, but how many times have I wished to God that ‘some of these idiot owners had to have a license’? You just wouldn’t believe what we see. Of course, that’s a perfect world. A world where I have a passel of well-loved and properly cared for munks, all fluffy and pouchy, and plinky-eyed…a girl can dream. 🙂

Speaking of cold, I think the narrator has one. He sounds a little stopped up and sniffly. I still ike the way he talked to his pet. There are children who never hear such a sweet voiice in the morning.

I feel pretty certain that little chip here gets run of the house during the day. No worse than crating your dog at night. Sure don’t want her tearing through the house while the family’s asleep, unattended, chewing on electrical cords.

I came on to tell you guys who had fathers and mothers sing you awake – you are fortunate and loved and I hope you are aware of that fact.
and the chippy is adorable. we can’t change whatever circumstances he is in by commenting. we never get the whole story here, but this site isn’t for the whole story, it’s for cute things. stressing about his situation doesn’t change anything. commenting doesn’t change anything. I know we want to, but we cannot save/rescue every animal we come across.
I also could never catch my ratties yawning on camera, lol!

Squirrels were common pets in Colonial America–I’ve wondered why they aren’t anymore. This article is interesting, although some of the accounts of what happens when deer become pets are rather horrifying:

Unfortunately, it has to do with breeding. Cats and Rats have thousands of generations of controlled breeding behind them to shape them into the companion animals they are today. Skunks are being kept as pets in some states but are illegal in others to keep. And are not truely domesticated because they do not have those thousands of years of specificied breeding.

And chipmunks have no generations of specified breeding shaping them to be animals that would be content in a cage.

This little guy looks happy now, but I bet he gets tired of his square foot of space when his instincts tell him to cover a sq mile territory.

I’m sure the human here just has him because he was injured or sick and needed rehabing.